Glencore pulls out of $475m copper mine deal

Glencore shares have proved a lousy investment so far and there was another blow to the company today when a major takeover deal failed.

The commodities trading giant joined the stock market last May at 530p. Cynics immediately noted that if the world's supposedly most brilliant traders are selling stock it hardly makes sense to buy.

So it has turned out, so far at least.

The shares have tumbled from 530p on debut, losing another 5.3p today to 374.5p.

News today that it has terminated a deal to buy a majority stake in a South American copper mine for $475 million from CST Mining Group won't help sentiment.

The company ended the bid to buy 70% of the Mina Justa project in Peru because it couldn't reach agreement with joint-venture partner Marcobre S.A.C., Hong Kong-based CST Mining said in a statement today. Not all conditions for the sale were met by today's deadline and the transaction has been terminated, Glencore said in its own statement.

It's float made paper billionaires of top staff including chief executive Ivan Glasenberg. He has a near 16% stake in the company.